一堂天文课（When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer）

When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer

Walt Whitman

WHEN I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

一堂天文课

沃尔特·惠特曼

当我听那位博学的天文学家的讲座时，
当那些证明、数据一栏一栏地排列在我眼前时，
当那些表格、图解展现在我眼前要我去加、去减、去测定时，
当我坐在报告厅听着那位天文学家演讲、听着响起一阵阵掌声时，
很快地我竟莫名其妙地厌倦起来，
于是我站了起来悄悄地溜了出去，
在神秘而潮湿的夜风中，一遍又一遍，
静静地仰望星空。

（罗良功译）

［注］此诗是《草叶集》（ Leaves of Grass，1900）中的第180首。

（插图作者 Loren Long）